This invention relates to a system and method of creating a paper card with a magnetically encoded stripe, in a continuous, single pass fashion. The method produces a card that includes an encoded magnetic stripe, related variable imaging, and printed graphics on a paper substrate. The card is a durable and inexpensive alternative to the plastic cards typically used as temporary permits and identification, gift certificates, membership and affinity cards and the like.
Previous methods of providing such products utilized a number of separate manufacturing steps. Typically, the card was printed, then placed on a cardboard carrier and skin-packed. The bar-code on the back of the card was read through a cut-out in the carrier, and a magnetic slurry stripe was written with the correct data.
Prior methods of applying magnetic stripe information typically involved piece-by-piece encoding of the stripe. There is a need for a system that permits in-line printing and encoding of graphic, bar code, magnetic stripe and other information with information targeted for customers. Moreover, there is a need for such a card in which customer information can be included in both the graphics portion of the card and in the magnetically encoded stripe.